That really varies. This week was: Monday: 8 trades Tuesday: Very limited trading time, only 1 trade Wed: 5 trades Today: 6 trades With CL there's a lot more action throughout the day. Today I even put on a trade 1 min before NYMEX close and made $200 there.
Now I encourage you to get into the bad habit of posting your exit strategy (both the stop and the profit target) in the open. The lesson here is to condition yourself to learn by rote as it were. This way, you'll know where to take your profit as well as get out in the event you're wrong long before committing yourself to any trades.
Can you clarify what you mean by "posting your exit strategy (both the stop and the profit target) in the open"?
Regarding the exit strategy, no one can argue against the virtues of a protective exit, be it a hard stop or a mental stop. However, does not having a predefined profit exit cross the line from reacting to predicting? It can be argued that entries and protective stops are reactionary if you enter in the direction of price action and exit should the price go against the trade. No need for clairvoyance there. But predefined profit targets? Not so much. That crosses over into psychic territory, wouldn't you say?
I have a lot to say about exits. I always use a hard stop. I've had problems moving stops to break even too soon, getting stopped out to, or near, the final tick before the trade then continues in my favor rather hugely (today was one example where I left a $350 profit on the table this way based on where my target was). I'm carefully evaluating in my bar-by-bar after-market analysis the net benefit of leaving initial stops in place until more than 50% of the move to my target transpires. In a counter-trend trade I will always move my stop to break even once the trade exceeds 10 ticks in my favor. A counter-trend fade works quickly and if it doesn't then a second entry will almost always be presented. I've had several profit targets missed by 1-3 ticks over the past few weeks and then the trade reverses to break even, so I've started targeting 3 ticks inside a level to be tested (such as 3 ticks above a previous support level in a short trade). If price barrels toward my profit target, I will assume the NEXT S/R level will be tested and will attempt to quickly move my target 20 ticks further away and see if the initial level breaks. In these cases I almost always get my initial target by trailing a stop and I sometimes get an even better exit. Sometimes I can't react fast enough price moves so fast, but I'm much better at it now then when I first started. Sometimes I use a mental target because during very high volatility you can easily limit your profits when price suddenly jumps 15 ticks or more in a nanosecond. Today I had some trades I entered via a stop order and it placed me nicely in the momentum of the move, producing instant profit. Entering a trade this way is best played by placing the stop order AT or INSIDE the level that's about to be broken through. So an example from today was when the 2:10pm, 2:15pm and 2:20pm 5-min bars had support at 76.74, 76.76, and 76.75 respectively. I watched the 2:25pm bar carefully as it moved in near those levels and I placed a sell stop @ 76.75. I was placed in the trade before the breakout and it dropped 15 ticks very quickly. If I'd placed my sell stop below .74, I'd have risked getting quite a bit of slippage on the breakout, so I use inside levels and if the trade runs against me then I'm stopped out and will try again.
could you post your exit strategy? I think Nodoji is trading 1lot, and almost 5trades a day, just make 500bucks? there is no exit strategies there, she is a scalper! crude moves daily in the range of at least 1~2 points, 1lot if done right, 1k one day one trade is realistic! good question.
Sorry, but you're completely wrong. Trading isn't about gambling and clairvoyance. But it is about probability. In another word, ANTICIPATION plays a very large role. If you truly want to succeed as a trader, you must master this concept, period. Every good trader MUST KNOW IN ADVANCE where he will enter, where he will take profit and where he will place his stop. Otherwise, it really is a gambling. @ Nod, This shouldn't come as an alien subject from the things I've said in the past.
It doesn't matter whether you're a scalper or an investor. Nor does it matter should you trade 1 lot or 100 lots. What does matter is that you have a game plan in place. Believe me, if you're good you can trade many times the daily range because you're able to ride out the numerous intraday trends that appear within that daily range. I'm still working on it.